Dive Brief:
- Barry Callebaut announced that CEO Juergen Steinemann will step down in August 2015.
- Steinemann converted the Swiss company from a seller of chocolates into the the world's largest chocolate supplier, counting Nestle and Hershey among its clients.
- The announcement comes as the company said profit rose in the just-completed fiscal year as global sales climbed 20.1%.
Dive Insight:
Steinemann's shoes will be very hard to fill. He turned the company from an also-ran in the chocolate business into its top supplier in the world. Plus, his decision - somewhat controversial at the time - to acquire Petra Foods in 2012 also made Barry Callebaut the world's largest cocoa processor.
A single one of those victories would be enough to cement his reputation. But two of them? We don't envy his successor.